xLayer

Here is a quickly put together introduction to xLayer.

The file xLayer.js is a library of routines that will simplify cross
browser Dynamic HTML. There are other cross browser libraries out there,
most notable is DynAPII
and also one at BrainJar.com.
I am hoping to create this library from an object oriented point of view
as a way of teaching myself the intricacies of cross browser DHTML. Hopefully
when I am done you will be able to create objects of type xLayer and manipulate
that object using methods defined on that object. The file xLayer.js is
changing every time I write a new demo so, if you want to try and use
it in your own scripts, you will need to keep checking back to get the
latest version (it is still under development).

Library Code

Version 1.11 : Fixed getWidth() for IE4.
Version 1.10 : Fixed getWidth() and getHeight() so that xMenu
works correctly.
Version 1.9 : 2001-01-16 : Fixed a bug in the event handling that
only affected I.E.4.0.
Version 1.8 : 2000-11-19 : Changed the event handling. An event object
is now passed to the added event handler function.

This is my version of a script I saw on javascript.com.
My version has more configuration parameters so you can have a different
trailer on each page.
textFlag(theText, theColor, theFont, theFontSize, track)

This is the xLayer version of the Elastic
Bullets script by Philip
Winston. I have re-written Philips script to use xLayer. Credit
goes to Philip for writing the original script. I have contacted Philip
and he is OK with me providing this version of his original script.

Creating xLayer from DIV's

This demo uses the new feature of xLayer "xLayerFromObj()"
that allows you to create an xLayer from a pre-formated positional
DIV. Using staticMenu.js and the code in simplemenu.html you can create
a floating menu that is always visible on the page.

Another demo to show how complex you can make the floating
menu. Here I simply took the menu from one of the interface pages
(Tecno), placed it into
a DIV and then used the new function xLayerFromObj() to turn it into
a floating menu.

A Hierarchical Menu

I wrote xMenu and mymenu.js one rainy sunday afternoon.
It is based on my knowledge of Java Swing and I tried to mimic a way
of creating menus like the JMenuBar, JMenu and JMenuItem of swing.
They have similar methods xMenuBar.add(new xMenu("File"))
and xMenu.add(new xMenuItem("open") etc...
I got it working but it felt to much like "real" work. There
is a lot thet needs to change to allow better customization and as
there are other menus out there I have decided (for now) now to work
on this any more.

(DO NOT ASK ME FOR ZIP FILES CONTAINING THESE DEMO'S. I don't have room
on my site. ALL the source and any images used ARE downloadable by right
clicking the links and using "Save As")

Do not expect too much from this page as I am extremely busy and have no idea
how often it will be updated.